DAMASCUS: Syria´s army announced on Friday that a camp housing suspected relatives of Islamic State group fighters was closed to the public, a measure a military source said was meant to bolster security around the facility.
Earlier this month, the army entered the vast Al-Hol camp after the withdrawal of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In a statement Friday, it said the area was a “closed security zone”.
Located in a desert region of Hasakeh province, Al-Hol is the largest camp for suspected IS relatives and is home to some 24,000 people, mostly women and children, including 6,200 foreigners.
A military source told AFP the army´s measure aimed to control security around the camp and maintain order within it.
Some camp residents fled during the “security vacuum” between when the SDF withdrew and the army took control, two former employees of organisations working at the site told AFP last week.
In recent days, new reports emerged of attempts to flee the camp.
In the latest issue of its official al-Naba publication -- translated by the SITE monitoring group -- IS called on supporters to free women held captive in Al-Hol.
In 2014, IS swept across Syria and Iraq, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery, but backed by a US-led coalition, the Kurdish-led SDF ultimately defeated the jihadists in Syria five years later.
